~Georgia Forestry MARCH 1951 - AA~ 2f' 19J1 ..,...""" '( CF GEORGlA lJIUYt:\..J' Page Cne ]eorg ta !'orestry- tied Dollars Found Today's Tragedy: In The Forests Burning Forests (From the CarroLLton fimes Free Press) The biggest single income from the soil year after. year in Carroll County comes from trees. We sometimes hear we have neglected cotton, failed to learn modern ~ethods in growing it and been negligent in following t:uough in getting every di rne possib le out of it. "?ut any laxity in c ot t on slides into insignificance when we cons i d er o ur p ast hapha zard re~ard for trees and woods. And, despite this disregard and lack of thinking,the woods continued to yield year after year more dollars than anything else coming out of the soil. We took trees for granted. They just grew and were cut and just happened to provirie a nice profit. It is beginni ng t o be real ized now in Carroll C~u n t y wh at importance t i mb er hol d s , the income it provides the land owner, t he work it gives mil l operators and lumber processors, the homes it builds and the indust r ial opera t ions i n which it is a b as ic raw mat e r i al. SenthJent a gainst woods fires here was s low in coming into being. As re c ent as a ye ar ago when a county fire pro tection unit was added there were many who considered it a joke a nd wa st e of public money. A few may sti ll f ee l that way. The unit has hal ted scores of fires, developed a lin e of t hink i ng tha t r e alizes the hollow thi nk i n g beh inrl v il full burning off of wou8s and s aved the li ve s of mi llions of little pi n e which will be the saw ti :nber of a f ew mo r e ye ars. (From the Coffee County Progress) Tust about this time of the new year most farmers get to wanting to do something to get things growing and about the first thing ~any of them think about is burning a little tract<: of woodlands or a corner in t!-le field. The man who sets fire out is responsible to see that it does not burn beyond his own land borders. The present l a ws o f the state of Geo r gia conc erning burning of land a re sufficient to protect land owners if enforced and pressure should he brought where needed to see that those burning areas burn only their own land. It is tragic to burn our fores t l and s a nd the s ooner we le a rn t h at i t i s burning money fro ~ our own pockets, the sooner ~e'! l quit burnin g them. Fire is difficult to con trol and it has no business in the forest in the first place. We get a ~reat percentage of our liveli!lood fro m ti mber, gum, turpentine and pulp wood to say nothing of fire wood and oth er products . Georgia Forestry VoL. i.J March. 1951 No. 3 A monthly bulletin published by the Georgia Forestry Commission State Capitol, Atlanta. Entere~ as second-class matter at tne Post Off i ce, Atlant~. Georgia, under the ac t of August 24, 1912 . Member of t he Georgia Press Association. March, 1951 Page T'tloO DeLoach Cites Fire Danger; Asks Respite From Brush Burning Delay your brush burning until a letup co~es in Georgia's critical forest fire danger situation. Such was the appeal made this n~nth to Georgia's farmers and landm~:ners by Guyton DeLoach, Director, Georgia Forestry Commission, which recently completed a survey showing a large percentage of the State's forest fires are starting from control burns - the burning off of fields and of piles of brush. DeLoach pointed out that dange~ from control hurning exists even during normal times, but he said today's situation in Georgia's tinder-dry w~odlands is ' ' f a r from normal.'' "Far too many cases," the Commiss ion Director added, are being reported in which a simple control burn turned into a disastrous forest conflagra ti on. .1\pplying a match to so~e brushpile or broo~sage field may seem a harmless act, especially when precautions are taken to prevent the spread of fire.'' 'Few persons realize, though,'' he continued, ''that even these precautions can not always serve as a guarantee against woods fires during this especially dangerous season of the year - a time when the forests are at a high point of inflammability ... Director DeLoach emphasized that not only was March a particularly dangerous season of the year as concerns woods fires; but he added this March was a more dangerous month than in ~any preceeding years. ''Extreme cold weather,'' he stated, ''has made woodlands, grass, and pasture lands far dryer than in pre~i0us years. FirPs star t far easier today; they spread far easier. Before you plan any kind of control burning, contact your County Forester or Ranger and get his advice. If you live in an unprotected county, your District Forester can tell you of the danger which lies in control burning at this time cf the year.'' DeLoach reported that through February 1 Georgia had lost 5~,080 acres in the last six months, most of it in the current fire season since October 1. County Foresters and Rangers during that period re- ported 1,4Sn fires. ' The Commission head asked for the ''all-out cooperation'' of Georgia citizens during the remainder of the fire season and predicted that a voluntary clampdown now on brush burnin~s would go far toward cutting down on the vast forest acreage which weekly is being lost to flames throughout ~eorg. a. The unveilina of a replica of the Statue of Liberty on the State Capitol lawn by Boy Scouts,whose pennies and dimes provided for the replica, also proved the occasion for a seedlina presentation. Guyton DeLoach, left, Director of the Ceoraia Forestry Commission, presents pine seedlings to John H. Lander, President of the Atlanta Council, Boy Scout-'> of America, while Roy M. Lyles, Scout Deputy Trainina Exe cutive for Georgi~ looks on. Lander accepted the seedlinas on behalf of Georai a's Boy Scouts, who this year are laying particular stress on con~ervation and reforcstat ion. Page Three Geor~ia Forestrv Commission Headquarters Moved Fulfilling an acute and longstanding need, the Atlanta headquarters of the Georgia Forestry Commission has been moved to a new and larger location - on Hunter Stre et directly across frorn the State Capitol, where the offices previously were located on the fourth floor. Guyton DeLoach, Director of the Georgia Forestry Convnission,_ pointed out that capacity of the old headquarters long ago had been outgrown, an outgrowth resulting from expanded services offered by the Commissi on during the last few years and a constantly growing list of countie s under forest fire protection. He pointed out that as recently as December, 194~. only 43 counties and nearly eight and a half uillion acres of Georgia forestland were under organized fire protection. 'Ji th the number mounting until there are at present ~o counties and more than 16 mill ion acres under protection, the difficulty of adninistering the Commission's work i n the crarnped quarters of the old headquarters location became in c reased daily. The Commission Director, in announcing t:le opening of the new headquarters, emphasized that the only change to be ~ade in addressing mail to the new Commission headquarters i s i n omitting-the old "435" nu-nb er. Mail should be address ed to ''Georgia Forestry Conmission, St ate Capitol, Atlanta, Ga.'' ~eLoach reoorted the Comnission's Atlanta headquarters phone also has been changed. TI1e new number is Al. 4861. The new building, decorated attractively inside with walls of green, green linoleum, and white ceilings, contains 11 individual storerooms and offices. (The old rapitol buil d ing headquarters contained four rooms). Among the rooms in the Hunter Street building are individual offices for DeLoach, for the Assistant Director in ("harge of Fire Protection; Assistant Director, nanagement; Assistant Director, ;~urseries; and the Chief,Information and ~ducation. A special conference room in which members o f the Board of Commissioners will hold regular meetings and in which forestry ~otion pictures can be shown is at the front part of the building. Business office and clerical staff, under the direction of George Bishop, Administrative Assistant, are housed in the main portion of the building, with individual offices alongside it. Pest roo~s. a store room, and a mail room are in the rest of the building. Meeii~uf Members of the American Turpentine Farmers Association Cooperative will hold their fifteenth annual convention April 18 at Valdosta, according to announcement by Judge ltar ley Langdale, Association President. Election of officers for the new year and discussion of vital topics relating to the turpentin'e industry will be included in the day's events . One of the convention h ighlights, as in years past, will be t he election of a Miss Gum Spirits of Turpentine for 1951. Entrants in the contest to select the Gum Turpentine Queen are sponsored by the Directors of the Association, and the beauty parade is always a gala event. Miss Betty Sue Stoutamire, of Tallahassee, Florida is the 1950 Queen. Narch, 1951 Page Fnur Forestry Association Sets Savannah Meeting Several hundred landowners, foresters, industry representatives, public official-s, and others interested in Georgia's forestry potential and forest industries are expected to gather at Savannah's Hotel DeSoto April 6 to attend the twenty-seventh annyal convention of the Georgia Forestry Asso~iation. This year's convention theme, according to Hugh Dobbs, Association President, will be 'Georgia's Forest Products: Sypply Versus Demand Both During and After the National Emer- gency.'' "We will attempt to show in detailed outline, ' Dobbs said, "the tremendous untapped natural resources which exist today in Georgia's woodlands. Forest products manufacturers from out-of-state will be given an opportunitY to see what our woodlands actually could provide them in the way_. of .con~entrated, year- round pruuuctton. ' Registration is to begin at 9:30 a. m. Dobbs will open the meeting at 10 a. m. with the President's address and will preside over the morning session. Guyton DeLoach, Directo~, Georgia Forestry Commission, wtll describe the Commission's work and the implications and the effect it will have during the national emergency. GFA Director Kirk Sutlive will ~reside at the luncheon meeting. The luncheon speaker will be announced later. Charles F. Evans will preside over an afternoon forum on "Supply Versus Demand of Georgia's Forest Products." Among those participating will be Henry J. Malsberger, Forester, Southern Pulpwood Conservation Association; Ted Liefield, Consultant Forester; Harley Langdale Jr., landowner and tinber operator, and Johr. McElrath, of Jeffreys-McElrath Lumber Coopany, Macon, and merrber of the Board :qf Commissioners, Georgia Forestry Commission. ' Special invitations are being sent the Association's Keel Georgia Green county committee chairmen asking them to participate in the question and answer session of the foru~. Information will be given by these chairmen on what forest resources are available in their counties. At the business session in the afternoon, B. M. I..ufburrow, Executive-Secretary of the Association, will present his annual report. Five directors ~fll be elected for three year tenms. Present officers and directors of the Association, in addition to Dobbs, Sutlive, and Lufburrow, are R.H. Rush, Hawkinsville, First Vice President, and Wallace Adams, Glenwood; W.T. Bennett, Savannah; M.H. ClRrk. Albanv: T.L. Gillis Tr., Soperton; M. R. Harding, Macon; E. T. Hu d s on , E 11 i j a y ; W. A. Knox, , Thomson; A.R. Shirle~, Valdosta; J.E. McElrath, Macon . Hobart ~anley Sr., Savannah; W.M. Oettmeter, Fargo, and R.H. White Jr., Atlanta, Directors. QeDIUJia Raiu g~ New. ./1cetUfB